The werewolf hierarchy is a complex organizational chart that keeps the pack intact. In ancient times, the packs were ruled just by an Alpha. As packs grew larger, a Beta stepped into the role of second in command. Armed with more intelligence, packs began growing past the fifty head mark which forced the Alphas and Betas to come up with better ways to manage large wolf packs.
The Alpha
The Alpha still remains the leader of the pack. He decides what to do in dire circumstances. His orders are hard to disobey owing to the Alpha voice.
The Alpha usually transfers his powers to his offspring with the most Alpha blood, usually the first born offspring. In rare cases, the first born are twins. Most packs accept twin alphas but the wilder packs settle for a bloodbath with the survivor gaining immense powers for some reason.
In the case where there is no heir or if the heirs died, the Alpha can use transference to find another successor. A typical werewolf with Alpha blood becomes the next candidate and the Alpha marks the werewolf with blood. The process is extremely painful.
There are other ways to grab the role of Alpha but they are illegal and have been long forgotten due to the ban by the Grand Circle.
The Luna
Not necessarily a minor role however the Luna serves as the partner of the Alpha. The Luna doesn’t have much authority unless the Luna has a significant amount of Alpha blood.
Lunas with Alpha blood are prized werewolves. Sometimes wolf packs will ignore the mating bond by the Moon goddess and kidnap Lunas with Alpha blood for their Alpha. This has led to countless wars and broken pacts until it was banned by the Grand Circle of werewolves. Now, only rogue packs attempt to kidnap Lunas with Alpha blood in hopes of siring a strong enough werewolf Alpha that will push their rogue pack into an official pack.
It's also rare to have another Alpha as the 'Luna'.
The Beta
May or may not have the same amount of Alpha blood in his veins. The Beta is chosen by the retiring Alpha or the Alpha heir inherent. First he is marked by the retiring Beta to transfer powers followed by the Alpha to instill loyalty. If he dies, the process will just repeat with a new Beta heir.
Betas have almost the same authority as Alphas during the absence of said Alphas. They also have a relatively powerful Alpha voice they can utilize to enforce commands.
There are packs that have Alphas and Betas as mates.
The Gamma Prime
A title recently developed by packs to handle guard wolves or gammas. It is not an inheritable position but a position of convenience. However it does have equal weight with a Beta as the choosing of a Gamma prime is very strict. Instead of Alpha blood, a Gamma prime is chosen because of his strength, achievements and other feats worthy of handling the large army of the pack. In essense, the Gamma prime is a field commander and drill seargent at the same time.
A Gamma Prime as mate is possible as long as the mate is qualified for the position.
The Delta, Epsilon and Zeta
These are non inheritable titles with no powers. They serve as assistants to the Alpha and Beta in various roles such as secretary, chef, housemaids etc.
The Inner Pack (aka Elders)
The inner pack or Elders are retired Alphas and Betas. They are like council members that guide the current Alpha and Beta in caring for the pack. They are the perfect candidates to do this since they cannot be influenced by the Alpha and Beta due to their former status. However due to the transfer of powers Elders have limited use of the Alpha voice, controlling one or two werewolves at best with simple commands.
They negotiate with the current Alphas and Betas if they see anything that would be harmful or good for the pack.
The hierarchy in the inner pack is different. Former Alphas are given odd numbers, former betas as even numbers. The number of elders in the inner pack is an unspoken testimony of the strength of the pack. More elders means the pack has been around for a very long time. A lower number of elders means the pack is new or has been attacked several times leaving elders dead.
The largest inner pack belongs to the Red Paw pack with a number of 19 elders. The smallest number of elders belong to the Silver Moon which compromise of only five elders. However this is due to the fact that the current serving Alpha has gone over the maximum number of years of leadership. Most Alphas serve only for twenty years until their heir reaches the age of maturity. The Silver Moon Alpha has lead his pack for nearly sixty years making him the longest serving Alpha in the world.
The Grand Circle
The Grand Circle is a loose gathering of inner packs and current Alphas and Betas. They hide under the guise of ‘conventions’ and tackle important issues such as population growth, food and safety. The Grand Circle only gives out rules and regulations and doesn’t meddle with specific lives of packs and won’t even help ailing packs unless if there was a good reason.
The Succession
An Alpha and Beta has approximately eighteen years of leadership in their pack. As soon as they can find their best heirs, the succession begins at the age of sixteen for said heirs. Another two years are given to groom the heirs to their positions.
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AN – Morning guys. I had this factoid inside my head for quite some time now. This will help explain things why stuff are happening with Kirk and Damien.
I was running this morning and several stuff clicked in my head so I’m here typing away after my run.
Ugh! I might need to wipe my laptop clean of sweat.
There’s a short chapter after this one.
ROAR!
~Bentobear
In case you didn’t catch it in Chapter 9, Damien owes me for bonking my head with a stick. #playsdead *wink*
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Omega
Werewolf(Boyxboy) Endymion was an outcast, a werewolf who couldn't transform. He didn't have any place in the pack at all. Death was his sentence however by some miracle he managed to escape. Living a normal life and forgetting about his origins, he was ha...
